Earl Mitchell knows all about Curley Culp

Wade Phillips has coached four Pro Bowl nose tackles in his long NFL career, including one of the newest members of the Hall of Fame, Curley Culp.

The name means something to Phillips’ current nose tackle, Houston native Earl Mitchell. Culp, after all, essentially invented the position. He had retired six years before Mitchell was born, but that hasn’t kept Mitchell from doing his homework on Culp.

“I watched a lot of film, a lot of highlights, and I’ve definitely done some research on him,” said Mitchell, 25, who is about the same height (6-1) as Culp but weighs 20 pounds more. “(We’ve got) the same coach, too. Wade talks about him, tells us how he made plays. Wade will show me how the previous great (nose tackles) he’s had, like Curley Culp, would come off the block or shoot the gaps and penetrate. Basically, you got to play firm at the position. That was (Culp’s) game. He used his leverage to his advantage.”